The person in the painting was extremely beautiful.

The thatched cottage’s lamplight was dim, but reflected by this beautiful painting, it gave a feeling of a precious pearl casting light. This woman had moth-like eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, vermilion lips with a slight smile, azure hair falling to her shoulders – a naturally beautiful complexion. Like the rising sun with morning clouds, like a lotus emerging from green waves. Standing under the twin flower tree, holding a fallen flower in her hand, her eyes glancing around with flowing movement, making one hold their breath just watching.

Just a painting alone was so soul-stirring; one could imagine that if the real person were before their eyes, all the beauties in the three realms would pale in comparison.

Zanxing’s heart stirred. This woman was extraordinarily similar to the white-robed woman who appeared in her spiritual consciousness every time she practiced the “Qing E Nian Hua Gun.” Could it be…

In the lower right corner of the scroll, there was also a line of poetry: “Brilliant azure forest glowing bright, spiritual wind stirs jade branches.” The handwriting was identical to that on White Cut Chicken’s nameplate, also written by the cottage owner.

Zanxing looked toward Gu Baiying and spoke carefully: “Master Uncle, the person in this painting couldn’t be… Qinghua Xianzi, could it?”

Gu Baiying didn’t speak, staring at the beauty in the painting in a trance.

Zanxing raised her head. The beauty in the painting was looking down at the twin flowers at her fingertips. As Zanxing watched, she always felt something wasn’t quite right… Wait, where was the twin flower?

She suddenly awakened. Just now, the beauty still had a crimson fallen flower in her hand, but now the beauty’s hand was empty, missing a twin flower.

“Master Uncle…” Zanxing was about to tell Gu Baiying about this discovery when she looked down and saw a bright flower lying properly in her palm.

The flower from the painting had somehow run out and fallen into her hand.

She looked up in surprise, feeling a tremendous suction force surging toward her from within the painting. Zanxing only had time to call out “Master Uncle” before being pulled into the painting by that strange force.

“Splash—”

Everything around fell into chaotic darkness. Zanxing rubbed her eyes but couldn’t see anything. She wanted to take out an illumination talisman to see where this place was, but when she felt at her waist, her Qiankun Bag had somehow disappeared, and her heart immediately sank.

Then, footsteps sounded behind her. As these footsteps approached, the surroundings gradually brightened little by little. Like dipping a bit of transparent white into thick black ink, the white grew more and more, like the transition from night to early morning, except that light was also hazy, as if covered by a thick fog, or like the chaotic primordial universe.

The footsteps stopped behind her. Zanxing turned around.

Zanxing had never seen such a beautiful person.

The woman’s white dress was like snow, her long hair like a waterfall – a countenance that could only appear in dreams. She looked exactly like the beauty in that painting, yet was even more beautiful and captivating than the painted beauty. Only the beauty in the painting could still smile while picking flowers at those outside the painting, while this goddess, who was as bright as the moon, gazed at her coldly, as cold as ice and frost.

After a long while, Zanxing looked at this beauty and said, “Excuse me, where is this place?”

She had been pulled into the painting, but it was different from that time with the “Xumi Jiezi Map” during the assessment at Gufeng Mountain. The painting had a beauty under a flower tree with beautiful mountains and waters in the distance, but here, there was only emptiness.

“Sea of consciousness,” the woman’s voice was as ethereal as it had been in her spiritual consciousness before, still ice-cold. “Your spiritual consciousness has been pulled into the painting.”

Now Zanxing understood. Roughly speaking, her physical body was still outside the painting, but her consciousness had entered the painting. She looked at the beauty before her, was silent for a moment, then asked: “Are you Qinghua Xianzi?”

The woman lightly nodded.

Zanxing’s eyes lit up. Qinghua Xianzi had disappeared shortly after giving birth to Gu Baiying, her whereabouts becoming a mystery. Everyone at Taiyan Sect said Qinghua Xianzi had probably perished. Who would have thought they could meet in this secret realm now? Zanxing said, “You’re still alive! Master Uncle and the others have been looking for you. Gu Baiying is right outside the painting; he came with me. You two…” She fell silent.

Qinghua Xianzi looked at her with eyes as calm as water, or perhaps it should be said “empty.” She showed no emotion upon hearing the three words “Gu Baiying.” She only spoke coldly, as if completing a task: “Since you were able to reach this place, it means you are the destined person who found the ‘Qing E Nian Hua Gun.'”

Zanxing frowned. This statement sounded somewhat familiar…

“…If you pass the trial, I will pass on the complete manual of this technique to you.”

Zanxing was shocked: “Inheritance?”

“Yes. Each secret realm has its unknown opportunities. Since you found this place, destiny has determined you should have this opportunity. Techniques, secret manuals, pills, spiritual treasures – do you want them?”

This was indeed very tempting. Zanxing stepped back: “Thank you, but I don’t want them.”

For the first time, an expression of “surprise” appeared on the fairy’s face. She asked: “Why?”

Why? Zanxing looked down at her palm. Naturally, it was because she shouldn’t be the protagonist of this plot segment. In “Nine Heaven Summit,” Mu Cengxiao did indeed find an opportunity in this secret realm, though it wasn’t related to Qinghua Xianzi. But this routine of “passing trials to win inheritance” clearly belonged to the protagonist. Her coming here was already a plot that hadn’t appeared in the script. If she caused more trouble and took fortune that didn’t belong to her, the original story would very likely create more unsolvable traps targeting her.

She didn’t want to complicate things further.

“Xianzi, I was just passing through and accidentally saw this painting and got pulled in. The path of cultivation is arduous. I don’t seek opportunities or fortune; I only hope to walk the immortal path step by step through my efforts.” She tried to make herself look more sincere. “Please let me out.”

After a long silence, Qinghua Xianzi said: “Since that’s the case, I won’t force you.”

Zanxing breathed a sigh of relief, looked around at the whiteness everywhere, and asked the person before her: “May I ask, Xianzi, how should I get out of the painting?”

“Defeat me.”

Zanxing: “…”

Qinghua Xianzi spoke flatly: “If you cannot defeat me and pass my trial, you can only stay in the painting forever, unable to leave.”

“Please don’t joke,” Zanxing frowned. “If a person’s spiritual consciousness is separated from their body too long, they will die.”

“Correct.” Qinghua Xianzi’s voice was calm: “So you must defeat me and pass the test in the shortest possible time.”

Zanxing finally couldn’t bear it anymore and said, “Isn’t this forced buying and selling?”

The beautiful fairy used her ice-cold expression to tell her that this was indeed a forced transaction.

Zanxing slumped to the ground.

She tried to prove to Qinghua Xianzi that this was impossible: “Xianzi, you’re one step away from ascension while I’m a small cultivator who just formed her Golden Core a few days ago. Even if I were a genius, I couldn’t possibly defeat you!”

“Since you found this place, destiny has its determinations.” What answered her was a cold sentence.

“I think destiny wants to kill me,” Zanxing muttered, then tried to play the emotional card. “Xianzi, Gu Baiying is outside. You mother and son haven’t seen each other for years, and he’s always missed you. Speaking of which, Gu Baiying should be the one to receive your inheritance. I’m just an outsider, and my talent isn’t particularly outstanding. Giving your technique to me would be a waste…”

Qinghua Xianzi’s voice came from the darkness: “Only the person chosen by the twin flowers is the destined one.”

Zanxing: “…”

She felt somewhat of a headache. This woman was probably just a wisp of consciousness that Qinghua Xianzi had sealed in the painting years ago. She didn’t possess Qinghua Xianzi’s awareness and only knew to execute the command of “pass the test to receive inheritance.” No matter how much she said, she wouldn’t listen. Gu Baiying had a bad temper, and though his birth mother wasn’t as rebellious and arrogant as him, looking at this consciousness’s nature, she was also a proud, stubborn character who couldn’t listen to others.

Now, even if she didn’t want to accept the inheritance, to get out of here, she could only defeat Qinghua Xianzi. But wasn’t this another pit that “destiny” had dug for her? And even if she wanted to jump into this pit, she might not be able to.

Defeating Qinghua Xianzi – saying this would make people laugh themselves to death. That was Qinghua Xianzi, the direct disciple of Yushan Shengren, someone one step away from ascending to immortality!

After Qinghua Xianzi finished speaking, she no longer paid attention to Zanxing, standing silently in the void, beautiful and cold like a statue.

Zanxing tried circulating the Xiaoyuan Pearl in her chest, but there was no response at all. Her physical body was outside the painting, so her Qiankun Bag was naturally also outside. She couldn’t use any external aid tools, only having a Panhua Stick hanging at her waist – probably a spirit artifact virtually created for her in the trial.

This time, she could only rely on her strength.

However… Zanxing looked at the Panhua Stick at her waist. This gap in strength was truly heaven and earth apart, frighteningly vast.

She slowly stood up, drew the azure staff from her waist, and faced Qinghua Xianzi. Qinghua Xianzi said flatly: “It seems you’ve thought it through.”

“If the only way to get out of the painting is to defeat you, then sooner or later, this is the only option. I just don’t want to waste time.” Zanxing looked at her: “Come on!”

The Panhua Stick shot straight toward Qinghua Xianzi!

In the chaos, the Panhua Stick seemed to become a streak of azure lightning. In response, the long staff in Qinghua Xianzi’s hand moved like a swimming dragon. When the two azure lights collided, Zanxing only felt a long wind rushing toward her face. This wind was gentle yet continuous, seeming to carry vast wilderness, stars between heaven and earth, all things great and small, surging toward her menacingly, almost completely scattering her entire being.

Zanxing didn’t even have time to make a second strike before being sent flying.

The woman gripped her long staff, looked at the person who had been knocked away, frowned slightly, and said: “Utterly vulnerable.”

To lose so miserably was completely expected. Zanxing wiped the blood from her lips: “The first strike was just to test your strength.”

“Again.” She stood up and said.

…

In the thatched cottage, Gu Baiying carried Zanxing to the bed.

Mimi crouched beside Zanxing, no longer chasing White Cut Chicken now, calling out twice, somewhat anxiously. Instead, that bald-tailed roasted chicken stretched its neck, strutting proudly on the table, stepping on the papers with poems written on them, making them rustle loudly.

Just now, while looking at this beautiful painting, Zanxing had suddenly fainted while watching, and wouldn’t wake up no matter how much he called. Gu Baiying reached out to feel her forehead, then suddenly withdrew his hand, his expression shifting slightly: “It’s her spiritual consciousness.”